By Mallory Cawthra

March 12th and 13th at Leader Composite School (LCS) in the Town of Leader. Celebrating its 15th year, the event is organized and presented by Leader Dance Parents and marks the beginning of the 2022 Dance Competition Season. The participating dancers showcase their talents in the areas of Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Pointe, Broadway, Contemporary and Hip Hop.

Leader Dance Fusion boasts dancers from the following dance studios: Leader School of Dance (Leader, Maple Creek and surrounding communities), Elite Dance Company (Eston), Sieben School of Dance (Kerrobert and Macklin), Premier Dance and Monday Night Book Club (Kindersley), Wilson School of Dance (Oyen) and the Dance Studio of Swift Current. The Director of the Leader School of Dance is Tiffany Wagner.

Vanessa Price is the President of the Leader Dance Fusion committee, and has been involved with Leader Dance Fusion since it’s inception. She stepped into the President role this year to help with succession planning, as next year will be her last year assisting with the event. She explained that she, “is most excited for the dancers to be able to get back on the stage and show off their hard work and dedication for everyone to see!” Vanessa also mentioned that Leader Dance Fusion, “…allows us to not only cover the cost of all the dancers’ many group costumes, but also allows us to have carry over for the next year, to ensure a comfortable position starting another dance season.”

The Leader Dance Fusion Committee is comprised of a handful of parent volunteers who do many hours of behind the scenes work in preparation for a smooth and seamless event. The past success of the event is owed in large part to the dedication and commitment of all Leader Dance Parents helping out the weekend of the competition. Crystal Tiringer is one of the Leader Dance Parents and a member of the Leader Dance Fusion Committee. She reflected that, “Last year was a tough year, transitioning into new ways, and learning new technology so that dancers could still take part virtually was a task. Everyone’s very excited to have Dance Fusion back, it’s a way to bring in out of town folk to our local businesses and restaurants, meet new friends and rekindle with old ones. The ladies who started Dance Fusion had a vision in mind and I think it’s far exceeded their initial expectations!”

Leader Dance Fusion runs Saturday, March 12th from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., and on Sunday, March 13th from 8:00 am until 3:00 p.m. Admission is $5 per day and it’s open to everyone that would like to attend. There will be a must-see food booth available on site – guests rave about the food selection every year! Flowers will be available all weekend for guests to purchase for their favorite dancer, as well as a raffle table set up with amazing prizes for both adults and children alike. The raffle is part of the fundraising efforts to help cover costume costs for the season; the raffle draw will take place on Sunday. There will also be adjudication and a videographer at the event.

Leader Dance Fusion is supported by many local and corporate sponsors at the Program, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze levels, in addition to raffle donations from numerous individuals and businesses within the local and surrounding communities.